Chemical Background
WO97/05111 discloses N-(4-substituted-benzyl)-2-aminolactam derivatives of general formula II

wherein:
m is zero, 1, 2 or 3; n is zero, 1, 2 or 3; X is O, S, CH2 or NH; each of R and R1 independently is hydrogen, C1-C6 alkyl, halogen, hydroxy, C1-C4 alkoxy or trifluoromethyl; each of R2, R3 and R4 independently is hydrogen, C1-C6 alkyl optionally substituted by a hydroxy group, or C3-C7 cycloalkyl.
The compounds of the invention are active on the central nervous system (CNS) and can be used in therapy, for example as antiepileptics, in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and as neuroprotective agents, e.g. preventing or treating neuronal loss associated with stroke, ischemia, CNS trauma, hypoglycemia or surgery and in treating or preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Down's syndrome or Huntington's disease; they can also be used as antidepressants, hypnotics and antispastic agents.
In WO 96/40679, WO 95/33719 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,714,175 N-substituted pyrrolidone derivatives are claimed to be active as anticoagulants (Factor Xa), herbicidals and muscle relaxants, respectively.
In EP 0362941, N—OH substituted pyrrolidone derivatives are claimed to be active as anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants and in anti-neurodegenerative disorders.
Biological Background
It is well known that sodium channels play an important role in the neuronal network by transmitting electrical impulses rapidly throughout cells and cell networks, thereby coordinating higher processes ranging from locomotion to cognition. These channels are large transmembrane proteins, which are able to switch between different states to enable selective permeability for sodium ions. For this process an action potential is needed to depolarize the membrane, and hence these channels are voltage-gated. In the past few years a much better understanding of sodium channels and drugs interacting with them has been developed.
It has become clear that a number of drugs having an unknown mechanism of action actually act by modulating sodium channel conductance, including local anesthetics, class I antiarrhythmics and anticonvulsants. Neuronal sodium channel blockers have found application with their use in the treatment of epilepsy (phenytoin and carbamazepine), bipolar disorder (lamotrigine), preventing neurodegeneration, and in reducing neuropathic pain. Various anti-epileptic drugs that stabilize neuronal excitability are effective in neuropathic pain (gabapentin).
In addition, an increase in sodium channel expression or activity has also been observed in several models of inflammatory pain, suggesting a role of sodium channels in inflammatory pain.
Calcium channels are membrane-spanning, multi-subunit proteins that allow controlled entry of calcium ions into cells from the extracellular fluid. Commonly, calcium channels are voltage dependent and are referred to as voltage sensitive calcium channels (VSCC). VSCCs are found throughout the mammalian nervous system, where they regulate such varied activities as cellular excitability, transmitter release, intracellular metabolism, neurosecretory activity and gene expression. All “excitable” cells in animals, such as neurons of the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nerve cells, and muscle cells, including those of skeletal muscles, cardiac muscles and venous and arterial smooth muscles, have voltage dependent calcium channels. Calcium channels have a central role in regulating intracellular calcium ions levels that are important for cell viability and function. Intracellular calcium ion concentrations are implicated in a number of vital processes in animals, such as neurotransmitter release, muscle contraction, pacemaker activity, and secretion of hormones. It is believed that calcium channels are relevant in certain disease states. A number of compounds useful in treating various cardiovascular diseases in mammals, including humans, are thought to exert their beneficial effects by modulating functions of voltage dependant calcium channels present in cardiac and/or vascular smooth muscle. Compounds with activity against calcium channels have also been implicated for the treatment of pain. In particular N-type calcium channels (Cav2.2), responsible for the regulation of neurotransmitters, are thought to play a significant role in nociceptive transmission, both due to their tissue distribution as well as from the results of several pharmacological studies. This hypothesis has been validated in the clinic by Zinocotide, a peptide derived from the venom of the marine snail, Conus Magus. A limitation in the therapeutic use of this peptide is that it has to be administered intrathecally in humans (Bowersox S. S. and Luther R. Toxicon, 1998, 36, 11, 1651-1658).
All together these findings indicate that compounds with sodium and/or calcium channel blockade have a high therapeutic potential in preventing, alleviating and curing a wide range of pathologies, including neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, urologic, metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases, where the above mechanisms have been described as playing a pathological role.
There are many papers and patents which describe sodium channel and/or calcium channel modulators or antagonists for the treatment or modulation of a plethora of disorders, such as their use as local anesthetics, antiarrhythmics, antiemetics, antimanic depressants, agents for the treatment of unipolar depression, cardiovascular diseases, urinary incontinence, diarrhea, inflammation, epilepsy, neurodegenerative conditions, nerve cell death, anticonvulsants, neuropathic pain, migraine, acute hyperalgesia and inflammation, renal disease, allergy, asthma, bronchospasm, dysmenorrhea, esophageal spasm, glaucoma, urinary tract disorders, gastrointestinal motility disorders, premature labour, obesity. A largely incomplete list is shown below.
An extensive and thorough prior art overview is reported in WO 03/057219 (and references therein); a further selection of prior art is reported in the following references: Alzheimer, C. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 2002, 513, 161-181; Vanegas, H.; Schaible, H. Pain 2000, 85, 9-18; U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,403; U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,454; U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,952; U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,035; U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,841; U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,174; U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,198; U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,383; U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,781; U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,530; U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,288; U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,647; WO 97/10210; WO 03/018561.